>> gretchen: if you're wondering about brian, he's safe. he's dealing with his house. hopefully we'll see him back here tomorrow. >> peter: go, brian, go. we love you. bill: our colleagues, neighbors, everywhere up and down the east coast, lingering effects of sandy is making live missable for millions. new jersey, new york, and so many other countless towns on the east coast adjusting their lives by the hour. first in the garden state, the cleanup continues. millions trying to deal with another day of no power. check this out. lower manhattan, mouth of battery tunnel. mass transit starting to come back online. if you look at the picture you realize it will be a good amounted of time until things get back to normal. this is the new normal. i'm bill hemmer. five days until america

votes. welcome to "america's newsroom.". martha: what a combination of things. good morning everybody, i'm martha maccallum. no power and gasoline is becoming a big issue in the manhattan area. people are starting to lose their patience. here is picture of the george washington bridge this morning. incoming bridge, tunnels, cars are lined up for miles. there are restrictions. you have to have three people in order to get into some ways into the city. everybody worried about running out of gas. how much gas have you left in your car right now. the few gas stations that have gas have lines that are hours long, even middle of the night. bill: they certainly do. in hoboken new jersey, now this is a town where thousands of people are still trapped. a quarter of the town flooded with several feet of water. the national guard is there rescuing folks with no power, water or heat. hoboken is a city of 50,000. it is right across the hudson river just west of

new york city. one of the most densely populated towns in the country. sandy's massive tidal surge flooding that town and trapping folks again with no way out. molly line made her way in. how are things there this morning? molly, hello. >> reporter: bill, like you said there is an incredible amount of devastation here in hoboken. a community that has been put under a tremendous amount of pressure because of all the water. people stuck in apartments and no power. that expectation of no power is likely to go outside seven to 10 days. there is a big sign outside city hall explaining how dire the situation here. the national guard is here with any emergencies and responding to people stuck in various places. the water largely receded around the area. there are still spots where there are six inches, a foot. there are basement apartments underwater. there is now early this morning we're beginning to see some lights come on. we're beginning to see some restaurants open up. for the most part that is

not the story across this area. still a lot of trouble and a lot of things to be done to get back to normal. bill? bill: we understand you talked to folks who rode out sandy. as we mentioned there are still people trapped there. what have they told you about their experience this week, molly? >> well, you know, it was a really difficult thing. this is alex. he is one of the folks that was here for the storm, the entire time and watched the waters rising. alex, what was that like? >> it came out pretty quick. we were sitting on our front entrance to our building. all of sudden the water got to know level, higher than that and then the fire alarms went off. fire department came by. told us, that we should probably evacuate, to walk through the waist deepwater. we came back the next morning. >> reporter: you saw the national guard with boats and everything? >> yesterday. national guard was going up and down the block with boats and the trucks. we saw cars getting stalled in the lake that was my

street. so. >> reporter: then you came back and waded back through the water to get back to your apartment? >> yes. we did that on tuesday. it was probably worse than it was monday night. >> reporter: thanks very much. we are wishing you well. alex was able to finally walk out the front door without the water on his street. still a lot much problems. he expect to be without power a long time. back to you. bill: molly, we'll check back in with you live from hoboken. martha: the mayor of hoboken dawn zimmer is asking for patients as they're still working to rescue stranded in their homes, thousands of them. here are some of the pictures. we saw some of that. >> we are still very much in the crisis mode, continuing that floodwaters have not completely receded. people are still vanded in their homes, and so, people have additional resources that we need. we truly need more fuel. so we're reaching out to agencies to see if we can

get more fuel that we can make sure the national guard can continue to operate. that our police department and our fire department can operate so we can keep our community safe. martha: that's can happen. the prioritizing who should get fuel in the coming days. mayor zimmer also warning of the danger of downed electrical lines. we can not be too careful out there with? 85% of the people in people in hoboken are still without power. that will likely go on for at least seven to 10 days what we're hearing. bill: some of the pictures are heartbreaking. you look at images, they stop in their tracks. firefighters literally carrying children to safety in hoboken. rescuing families from the flood ravaged homes. that little girl holding tight to her stuffed animal. the national guard is out in force driving down flooded streets looking for anyone that might need help. those images continue to trickle in here throughout the morning. martha: new york city is a city just trying to keep the wheels turning at this

point. this is morning commute today. a lot of roads are blocked. i walked down here, sort of looking around the area where the crane was hanging down. it is still blocked off. you see a lot of red alarm lights on top of ambulances and police cars in the morning. bridges coming into manhattan are very, very blocked as well. checkpoints are going up around the city to enforce the new rules say that you have to have at least three people in your car in order to get into the city. this is the type of scene that mayor bloomberg is hoping to avoid. look at the gridlock in manhattan. that was during rush hour last night. bill: it isn't just drivers in need of gasoline. there are countless people who are trying to figure out how they can get from point a to point b in places like ridgefield, new jersey. this is off the turnpike. this scene started developing yesterday afternoon. it has gotten no better since then. these are lines of cars that are trying to get gasoline so they can get to their families sometimes get to

their jobs, move around the state. meantime you have no power and you're trying to figure all this stuff out for you. you're really living by the hour. some of these places needing gas for generators at home to light their houses and provide for their families. and some of these stations were closed prior to prevent contamination from flooding that really doesn't matter once you see amount of demand that is pending at the moment. two of the refineries in the area producing 300,000 barrels a day, they have been closed. that will have an affect on goose prices period. you have what, 3.58, $3.68 a gallon in new jersey. the attorney general of new york is warning against some price-gouging that has not been widely reported just yet. we hope it does not. those lines, they go throughout the night there in parts of new jersey. martha: states hit hard by sandy, facing a massive damage price tag. early estimates show that the cost of sandy could be near $20 billion.

could go even higher than that according to some of these folks. sandy will be likely among the 10 costliest hurricanes in u.s. history. retailers could lose as much as 25 billion in sales alone this week. think of that on top of already tough, tough economy. major department stores can derive 10% of sales from manhattan locations. a very big impact expected on the economy. the labor department releasing the final weekly jobs report before the presidential election. it shows 358,000 americans filing for first time jobless benefits. that is drop of just 9000. take a look back so you can keep it into perspective there is look since the start of the recession. we have little change since january when weekly jobless claims dropped to 360,000. tomorrow we get the last big monthly jobs report as the

october number comes in. let's bring in fox business network stuart varney for a look at this. good mornings, stuart. what lies ahead? >> that is a difficult question to answer. looking at the numbers we received today from a couple of reports you can probably say tomorrow 8:30 eastern time there were roughly, 120,000 new jobs created last month. that is a very rough estimate looking at today's numbers. now let me go into today's numbers, they are politically loaded because they present a snapshot of the economy right before the election. they're going to be intensely scrutinized because we've had a couple of very generous and pretty surprisingly positive reports last month. 363,000 new filings for unemployment benefits. that is still a very high number. and it is stablizing, right around that level. that implies that the economy is still weak. and if you look at the other report we received today on private sector job creation, you will see 158,000 new

jobs created, but, here's where the intense scrutiny comes in, because that particular report has been reconfigured. it is under new management. they're using a different calculation method. so that number is not suspect but just brand new and different. so what we're left with, martha, is a weak economy that's not producing that many new jobs and an awful lot of layoffs. martha: why is there a new way of calculating this? there has been so much talk in the recent months whether or not these numbers have been massaged a bit ahead of the election. a lot of folks who think there may be something to that, stuart. do you? >> i'm referring to the adp report, which is the private sector new jobs created. it was not a very good indicator in previous months and years. it was judged not to be a great indicator. so they completely reconfigured it, put a different company in charge of the calculation. they have come up today with 158,000 private sector jobs created last month. again there is no context to put that in.

so again, it's going to result in some mistrust of the overall numbers on jobs. martha: stuart, thank you so much. stuart varney at the business network. bill: the numbers one of many important economic reports traders will react to today, when the opening bell goes down in about to minutes on wall street. a still mostly darked lower manhattan. here is the number of the day. 1888, that was the last two-day weather-related closure on the exchange. 124 years ago. sandy forced the. hirono: change to shut down on monday and tuesday as you know. we'll see how trading starts today on this thursday morning. 11 minutes past the hour. martha: that gets going in 20 minutes or so. we have a jam-packed hour coming up. brand new pictures coming in, video coming in and what the outlook is in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. first crisscrossing the campaign trail, five more days to go. >> i'm confident that the people of florida have very clear eyes. you understand what's at stake in this election. [cheers and applause]

i know you have full hearts and on november 6th, we can't lose. we're going to get america back, we're going to strengthen this country, we're going to get people to work. martha: that is a look at mitt romney with five days to go. there is a mad dash to the finish line in the race for the white house. brand new details where the candidates are and what happens now. bill: serious questions also about the administration's claims that the deadly strike in benghazi came without warning. there are new documents just unearthed. you will see them and see what they tell us about what was happening in libya at the time. martha: we're getting a clearer picture of the scope of the damage sandy left behind. here is live look this morning with a boat sitting outside somebody's house in belmar, new jersey. we can also tell you that the former secretary of homeland security, governor tom ridge, is up in just a few minutes. he will talk to us about what he thinks is ahead in this whole sandy situation. be right back. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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martha: all right. take a look at this live shot just coming in from brooklyn, new york. let me give you a sense what you're looking at here. as you we get closer you see the lines of people wrapped around the new barclays center in brooklyn, new york. these are people, about 10 deep goes all the way around twice of the brooklyn, barclays center. they're trying to get into new york city to go to work. there are no subways working. you can only drive into the city unless you have three people in your car. people are not driving because concerned their gas will run out. they're trying to conserve asell. unbelievable scenes. this is the look at the triborrow bridge. this is the back side as it heads into new york city. checkpoints as they try to determine whether people have three people in their cars. i don't know, do they tell them to turn around at that point? whether they will fine people? we'll get you more information. 9:16 in the morning in manhattan and really, really tough day to try to get into

work. bill: so the new jersey governor chris christie is touring some of the more devastated areas with the president yesterday up and down the east coast. with me to talk about this and a few other topics of the day, pennsylvania governor tom ridge, former governor. a romney supporter and former secretary of homeland security. mr. secretary, good morning toe you. >> thank you. bill: i need to november to three topics hot on the radar. it is a busy news time you understand. you have a lot of experience with this disaster area. how are they doing? what is the next wrinkle in the story as we uncover this with you know light again today? >> i think the most important thing to realize the head of fema, craig fugate, is an experienced man. i worked with him when he was running emergency management group in florida. i think you're going to see the dollars coming from the federal government but you will need the leadership from the individual governors and clearly mayor bloomberg and governor cuomo and governor christie can

provide it. working in collaboration with the local officials. i know easy for me to say and difficult for people to accept. it will have to be a lot of patience. it will take months if not years to rebuild these communities. i encourage them to look at haley barbour model in mississippi after the katrina disaster. he took that disaster and used the opportunity to basically rebuild some of those communities. it takes planning. it takes courage and leadership. i, in fact i suspect you will find in both those states with the governors. bill: that is great example. thanks for bringing that to light. let's bring to what fox news was reporting late last night with regard to libya. a big turn now. now we have this letter that was september out a couple weeks before the attack in benghazi which clearly showed the presence of al qaeda training camps in the town of benghazi. there was a lot of concern about this. where are you on this story today? >> well i think there's a huge gap between what happened and what the

administration's told us. only the president can fill the gap with the truth and at the end of the day i think there is it lesz son to be learned and perhaps passed onto the kids. we had seals to ran to the ambassador's aid, in running to his aid they gave their lives. we have an administration that is running from the ambassador, perhaps to save their political lives. i think that speaks to character. that speaks to courage. that speaks to leadership. if you look at one model to the other how you react and respond in crisis you have to look to the seals and not to the administration. bill: let's move to what happens in five days now. you're a pennsylvania guy. you're a romney supporter. is this a head fake for republicans in pennsylvania or do you think they have a legitimate shot of making a state has been blue since 1988, making it red on tuesday? >> well, they have had a quiet ground game going on in pennsylvania that nobody's noticed. we had more contacts in 2012 than we did in 2004 and 2008 together. the base is really excited. at the end of the day

pennsylvanians are suffering from the past four years with a lack of leadership in the white house. they know one man, governor romney, has a vision for the next four years, the next eight years, and president obama has not articulated a new vision. i think most pennsylvanians, republicans, democrats, independents no well enough four more years like the past four years we'll not get out of this mess. the economy still drives i think this election. that is what i think the polls demonstrate, that people look to a governor romney, a president romney to help us work our way through the past four years and he will did do it and i think they win pa. bill: you do? i want to come back to my question because the way you're answering that sounded like a maybe not a yes or a no. you are saying you think romney wins your state? >> yes i will go on record, it will be close, very, very close. as i said before we had more voter contacts. there is more enthusiasm there. a republican truly doesn't get elected because if there

are not a lot of independent thinking democrats and independents. governor romney's message is so strong it will rule the day in pennsylvania. bill: 30 seconds left, the suburbs of philadelphia, does counties surround philadelphia are critical to winning the entire state and you're saying those counties will go republican this year? >> there is lot of mothers and fathers sent their sons and daughters to college and grad school in those counties and a lot of kids in philadelphia as well and they can't find jobs. 50% are still looking for work and they know the past four years is not a road map to a better future. they're prepared for new leadership. i think they will go with governor romney. bill: tom ridge, thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you. bill: martha. martha: there is much more on the aftermath of hurricane sandy but also as you just been hearing tom ridge and bill talk about, five days to go go in this election. a issue that could be a huge game changer in key states in the heartland. we'll tell you what that is. bill: also it is not just about the auto industry in ohio. we're live in the battleground state with a

hot button issue with thousands of jobs on the line. we'll explain that next.

bill: so the nation's airports, well, some of the wigger -- bigger airports in the country in in new york. they're struggling to get back to normal service. jf confident and newark liberty airports are back open but limited service. that is helping in part to relief the backlog of 19,000 flights canceled this week? laguardia has two runways. they were flooded by the storm. that airport is still closed. several airports hope to resume flights later today. martha: we'll see. five days out and in the swing state, swing vote

territory of eastern ohio, epa is something of a dirty word. the environmental protection agency blamed for killing many of the best paying jobs in the region. mining coal of course. steve brown is there live. steve, what has the epa done to deserve such a bad reputation in part of ohio? >> reporter: well the first thing we need to point out about eastern ohio it is a swinging type of area. it supported democrats and republican candidates. a lot of ticket splitters out there. it used to be home of a awful lot of manufacturing jobs. a lot of those have disappeared. for blue-collar folks some of the best jobs out there involving mining coal, working for a coal mine. the problem is, that the universal perception, both democrat-ic leaning and republican-leaning eastern ohioians, the epa has made those jobs more scarce. >> the epa is a dirty word out here? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: why is that? >> we've got oil and gas on

its way in. we have coal mines. they say it is dirty coal. power plants are shutting down left and right. because of epa. yes, that's not a good word out here. >> reporter: the union, the united mine workers of america, which endorsed barack obama in 2008, put him on the cover of the union magazine for the september and october edition with the title, he's one of us, has decided not to endorse a presidential candidate this time around. there are some caution signs for the president out in eastern ohio. martha? martha: that is such an interesting dynamic this time around, steve. of course as you say traditionally coal miners and unions have liked democratic presidents and apparently still support them in at least that outward way but what are the president and his allies are saying what this coal mix will bring them this time around? >> reporter: well they're not going to quit on trying to get that vote out there. they have dispatched ted

strickland, probably the best friend that organized labor has in recent elected office. he was the governor defeated by john kasich. he also the congressman out there. he is working overtime in the region. richard trumka, head of the afl-cio, who used to be the president of the united mine workers of america he said in a conference call he is head the out there in couple days to try to convince mine workers and their families that this president is on his side. they need to vote for him. this is a battle ground territory and battleground issue. martha? martha: five days away people will watch the counties as numbers come in to try to read the tea leaves in ohio. thank you very much. bill: we'll take you live to brooklyn, new york. these are new yorkers who live in brooklyn, who are trying to get to, either family members, or a job across the east river onto the island of manhattan. so the subway lines you know in lower manhattan are still

shut down. some opened up on other parts of the island. the city organized this to allow people to get in line to get on a bus, cross the brooklyn and the manhattan bridges. come into new york and then off load here on the island and get wherever they need to go. look at the lines that are now snaking around the building. the barclay center is where the brooklyn nets will start their season in the nba the first time this year. that a arena opened a couple weeks ago. martha: that game was delayed last night i'm hearing. that kickoff was not as ceremony just as everybody hoped it would be. you have to give new yorkers a lot of credit, diligence, standing in lines trying to get to their jobs today. it is not easy. urging patience for everybody around. look at that. that image says so much. this is lower manhattan where things ground to a halt. how long will it take to get one of america's main economic hubs up and running again? we have a live report.

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developing yesterday afternoon. it got worse overnight. it is likely worse than it was yesterday at this time today. five miles due west of new york city. joe waldman with fox new york is at a gas station in ridge freed, -- ridgefield, new jersey. you talked to the folks in the gas line. tell us. >> reporter: bill, you need electricity to power these pumps. because of that there is not a whole lot of gas to be had. for viewers outside the region we're two miles or so outside of midtown manhattan. we've been out here since 5:00 a.m. in that time they opened up quite a few more lanes, but unbelievably the line has gotten a whole lot longer. let's spin around and we'll show you what it looks like live out here. you're seeing part closer to the pumps. we'll show you, this is a service station right off the turnpike. this line wraps around for several miles from what we were told. we got here as i said, earlier about, 5:00 a.m., and there was no traffic, i

came out of new york city today. but once you got to the gas station, man, it backed up. gas out here right now is about 3.59 a gallon. it is regulated across the turnpike but there are fears anytime this happens about price-gouging. i've been on social media and twitter and one of the other concerns outside of price-gouging is there is simply no gas for people in brooklyn and queens. they are telling us they are rapidly running out. kind of dire straits when it comes to gas. bill. bill: you've been in new jersey right before the storm started. you have a pretty good handle what is happening there. are these people trying to get to work? are they trying to check on family members? are they trying to get out of the state? where are they trying to go? >> reporter: i will tell you a anecdotal story. we ran into a producer here. she was stuck in the city. she lived on the jersey shore that was hit so hard. she called to see if there was gas. she left midtown manhattan not far from the fox studios

to get gasoline. go had to wait two hours. she tried to get back into new york. like so many commuter, they have the restrictions and couldn't get back in the city. trying to get out, get in, any way you go you seem gridlocked t has a lot of nerves at that timered. bill: joe, thank you, $3.58 a gallon for cheap stuff, about that? >> reporter: $3.59 but who is counting a penny. bill: right on. joel, appreciate that. >> i actually have a plan for getting america back and for strengthening, for strengthening our foundation and my plan creates some 12 million jobs and, thatpy the way creates more take-home pay which people badly need. you know what it has been like. martha: that was governor romney in the swing state of florida, campaigning yesterday. we got some brand new fox polls that show the race for 2012 dead-even right now which we've seen in a number of polls. both the romney-ryan ticket

and obama-biden ticket, tied 46-46. this is a squeaker, folks. that number really has not changed much over the last 30 days. when we break that down among independent voters which is a lot of focus is on, you have governor romney ahead of this key voting bloc by 7%. as you can see president obama made gains with independents since october as well. his number has gone from 32 to 39. let's bring in some of our favorite experts, doug schoen, former pollster to president bill clinton. monica crowley, radio talk show host and both are fox news contributors. five days to go, this thing is so tight. if people aren't talking about sandy they're talking about who they think will win this thing. quick initial thought from you both and then i want to cruise through some of these polls. doug, where do we stand? >> oh, i think we are suggest that we're in a tie. the swing state data showing ever so slight obama lead,

within the margin of error. ohio couple points up. through the midwest, wisconsin, michigan, minnesota, a couple points up, a couple points up in pennsylvania. ever so slight obama lead there. but it could go either way. martha: monica? >> yeah. what is interesting we're seeing the traditional tightening of a race as we get closer and closer to election day. what is interesting that independent number you put you, martha, governor romney still has a very healthy lead among independents and doug mentioned the swing states, when you look at critical swing states states of ohio, governor romney is leading among independents by six points n virginia he is leading among independents by a staggering 21 points among independents. also in florida he is leading by about five points. races are won in the middle. those independents will really decide this race and they seem to be trending toward governor romney. martha: let's look at some of these other numbers. i was fascinated by these when they came out in the evening yesterday. here's a look at extremely interested voter the these

are folks very fired up and most likely to turn out. obama-biden gets 42% of that. romney ryan gets 53% of the extremely interested voter. let's go through these and get your reaction overall. the most important issue deciding your vote. 44% still locked in on the economy there. the second thing is fiscal issues. that is what it is all about, continues to be all about. look at the next one which asks this question, ght direct? i love this one, if this doesn't tell it all, 4% say president obama. 48% say governor romney. doug, you have been reading these tea leaves your whole life. your whole career life. >> sadly i have. martha: tell us what are you reading in them? >> first you're exactly right, martha, when you see 48-48 leading the country it says as the race you suggested a tie. the challenge for the obama campaign is with interest lower among their supporters than among the romney supporters, is to get their

supporters to the polls. martha: you know what you hear, doug? their ground game is so strong and that they, their early voter turnout, i mean i've seen things on both side, that are supportive of the early voter turnout. again all who you ask. >> that's the point i was going to make. the obama campaign in say the state of ohio is investing $50 million in gotv activity. unless they pull voters to the polls the natural enthusiasm advantage the republicans enjoy could give governor romney a slight edge. the gotv effort i firmly believe is stronger on the democratic side than the republican side. it is not ideology, it is just fact. if that happens it could give obama a very, very narrow margin. martha: gotv is get-out-the-vote for those folks that haven't had a fill of their coffee this morning. >> absolutely. martha: monica, read these for me. >> i think the republicans enjoy a strong intensity gap. when we talk about

get-out-the-votes effort that is incredibly foorn but the enthusiasm gap which the democrats enjoyed four years ago which has swung in the other direction is so intense. we saw from gallup earlier this week, martha we're looking at all-time highs in terms of enthusiasm, highest of any point gallup has been polling. you look at that. then you combine that with numbers you put out, martha, about the major issues driving voters to the polls this time. it is the economy. it is jobs. it small business. it is the deficit, it is the debt. on all of those issues governor romney does enjoy a lead. so i think you combine that with the intensity gap. i think governor romney has momentum still. martha: it will was fascinating night. we'll talk to you before then. then i want to get your actual picks on the record. >> dangerous. martha: thanks to you for that, doug. bill: we like dangerous. martha: yeah, you bet. bill: there are brand new details on top secret communication showing exactly how much the white house knew about the

security matter in benghazi, libya. we'll show that to you. details on that. a sloggy slog getting the city back on its feet. we're back to lower manhattan for the latest

martha: we're just getting a look at connecticut that the is still reeling, that city, that state i should say, from sandy. nearly 400,000 homes and businesses remain without power. the superstorm's wind toppled trees and power lines. there is new london, connecticut on the screen. the state's largest electric company says the state will have power by tuesday. they have a long way to go. governor dan malloy is stressing patience. >> i saw roads washed out today. i saw houses washed out to sea. i saw extensive infrastructure damage, to

municipal infrastructure. we're going to be at this for a while. martha: that's for sure. an update for those in the dark among those without power. that is down from 8.5 million at the height of the storm. so a little progress there. four million of those without power live in new york, new jersey and in connecticut. bill: want to move to developments now on libya. the questions for the obama administration about the deadly claims that strike though, the claims that it came without warning. fox news reviewing a cable which summarized a emergency meeting held last august where a senior state department security officer raised concerns the consulate could not defend against a coordinated attack. it foreshadowed the assault that came a month later. the cable mentioned two terror groups with training camps in benghazi before the

murders of the ambassador chris stevens and three americans. trey gowdy, from oversight committee and good morning from the spartanburg, south carolina. there was word there was not ample warning about the potential for the ride that eventually took the lives of four americans. today you're saying there are two things beyond a reasonable doubt that are clear to you. what are they? >> well, number one, that security was inadequate, and this cable, if media reports are accurate what it constrained, it is classified so i haven't seen it. if the media reports are accurate, that is just one more piece of evidence in what has become an overwhelming case that the administration either knew or should have known the security situation in benghazi was untenable. that has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. secondly the aftermath of these attacks. this had nothing to do with the video. it was preplanned. it was premeditate the what we don't know and what senator graham and jason chaffetz and others are

asking, mr. president, you said the minute you learned from this attack you issued three directives including to secure our personnel. who ignored your directive? this siege went on for about six hours. so if you issued a directive the minute you learned of this siege to protect our personnel, who ignored your directive? bill: so you're going to the white house? why not go to the state department? because fox news filed a number of questions with the department of state including giving warnings and dedetailed intelligence laid out whether or not the state department considered extra measures for the consulate to give them more security. why not go to the state department on these questions? >> we have, and we'll go there too. we'll two to the department of defense and we'll go to the cia put ultimately the government speaks with one voice. this administration can't blame this component or, it is like, a man blaming his foot if he is charged with kicking somebody. the president is in charge. he is the commander-in-chief. he is not the meteorologist in chief. he is the commander-in-chief.

he said the minute i learned of this attack, which, presumes to me that it was while it was ongoing because it lasted for six hours, the minute i learned of it i issued a directive to secure or personnel. what assets did he put in the air? what troops did he send to benghazi to secure our personnel? what did he do? bill i will not have a chance to ask him the question but i would hope you and others in the media would hold him just as responsible. bill: we hope to that that opportunity. but drill down on this. what the administration has suggested in its public statement that is the attacks came without warning. do these cables directly undercut that in your view? >> well these cables in addition to two prior attacks on the consulate and assassination attempt on the british ambassador. two attacks on the red cross in benghazi. if the administration did not know libya and benghazi in particular were dangerous, they were the last people on the planet to know that. all, there are 200 episodes

of violence in libya. this cable, there was something sent, in september. this allegedly was august. september. the situation in libya continues to be violent. that was sent days before the attack. so, when you have two attacks on a consulate, the british ambassador, an assassination attempt, plaintiff pleadings from your security officer and your ambassador this is trending negatively and you do absolutely nothing? what else could ambassador stevens have done shy of taking out an ad in the benghazi herald, saying please send us help? what else could he have done? bill: trey gowdy, thank you for your time. this will be with us after the election regardless who wins out of south carolina. thank you, sir. >> thank you. martha: let's take you live to the campaign trail this morning where we are waiting for mitt romney. he is arriving, just arrived really, wheels down, moments

ago in roanoke, virginia. he is speaking at a plant there. we have three stops for mitt romney in the state of virginia. the president also left the white house this morning enroute to wisconsin, colorado, and ohio. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. so, which supeast 4g lte service would yochoose, based on this chart ? don't rush into it, i'm not looking for the fastest answer. obviously verizon. okay, i have a different chart. going that way, does that make a difference ? look at verizon. it's so much more than the other ones.

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bill: a bit of a break from the campaign trail. this is congressman paul ryan back home in janesville, wisconsin, spending halloween nitric or treating with his kids. ryan taking them along same streets when he was young. his two sons were dressed as goblins. his little girl was dressed as katie per. martha: oh, yeah? what about that? bill: a lot of candy they got. martha: we didn't see much of that around here, sorry to say. there were signs of improvement after sandy.

brooklyn battery tunnel is filled to the brim with water. anna kooiman is live in downtown manhattan. what do we expect in the whole process today, anna? >> reporter: martha, i can tell you governor andrew cuomo says the federal government is sending this crews and equipment from the army and the navy. the army sending in an elite unwatering team as they call it. the same crew went down to the gulf coast following hurricane katrina from illinois. they're coming in. also the navy sending in pumps they normally use on ships. take a look behind me. this is the staten island ferry service. the service is currently suspended at the moment indefinitely. this police tape here is, in front of the battery park underpass here because there is 50 feet of water that is still there. now some of the subways did begin limited service as 6:00 this morning. and we can tell you that five 1/2 million people ride in those subways each and every day. governor cuomo has now declared a transportation emergency and says fees for

trains, subways and buses will be waved today. the state's metropolitan transportation authority says the system when it is closed costs $18 million in revenue to their pockets. traffic has been a mess. take a look at aerial pictures we have coming in. that is because people aren't able to use public transportation. so they're being forced to drive instead. between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and midnight the only vehicles allowed to go on the four east river bridges have to have three occupants or more, martha, they aren't giving anybody fines. but they simply will not let people cross. martha: unbelievable. i want to know how that works out? they turn around on the bridge? we'll figure that out. anna, thank you very much. bill: we are minutes away from seeing governor romney back on the trail today taking the stage live in that battleground state of virginia. who will get the 13 electoral votes there? polling there shows it is too close to call. martha: heartbreaking images coming in from the devastation left behind by

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keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. martha: all right, everybody, fox news alert as parts of the northeast are really struggling to get back to some kind of normal this morning. no power, no heat in a lot of cases no gasoline is the biggest part of the story right now. the whole thing is a tall order to turn around. some public transportation is getting back online. take a look at what commuters are dealing with. see the lines next to the buses, ten deep in some cases and wrapped around the barkley center. they are trying to get to work in manhattan. there is no other way for them to do that. that doesn't begin to describe what is going on out there. a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom," good morning, everybody, it is thursday. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. how are you hanging in there. martha: i'm doing okay.

bill: the president hit new jersey yesterday afternoon getting his first look at the storm ravaged state and trying to draw attention to the garden state to get its back on its feet as quickly as possible, which we know will take a long, longtime. martha: our rick leventhal has been riding this thing out on the new jersey shoreline since the beginning. now he's getting a sense of how devastated things are there. rick, what can you tell us today? >> we actually have good news to report from ocean city, new jersey, martha, which considers itself america's family resort. we are on the boardwalk which is in remarkably good shape, i mean it's in great shape actually. a number of other board walks, including atlantic city's was torn up pretty badly. this community is doing okay even though the ocean met the bay. we'll show you where the storm surge came through, washed much of the sand away from the beach and on to the boardwalk. the downs are being credited with protect th-ing this

barrier island. we can show you aerials from a day after sandy hit when much of ocean city and many of the rounding communities was underwater. many of the the homes impacted by floodwaters, but though are drying out now. if you come back live you'll seau tilt crews trying to pump out some of the remaining water that is the end of 6th street near the ocean. you can also probably see this pile of sand at the bottom of the boardwalk there where the beach washed away. but the community is still closed and that is the bad news part. they don't have power here. there are still downed power lines and still debris in many of the streets. the police have set up road blocks and people can't get in. some people stayed here, they are still here. they are not letting anybody in until they get the stuff cleaned

up and the power back on so it's safe for people. martha: that boardwalk may end up being one of the only boardwalks like it that is left in that air kwhrafplt it wil area. it will be a historic landmark because the rest of them will completely need to be rebuilt. i've heard of people sending one person down to look so they can report back. are they letting anyone in to report back? >> there are some people who are here, some people who rhode ou rode out the storm. the casinos in atlantic city are eager to reopen, until the evacuations orders have been lifted and they can get street clears it is not clear when that will happen. we saw a lot of utility poles down in long port, a lot of sand on the streets in margate and ventor.

it is still not safe for people to come back to many of the communities. that's why they set up the road blocks and they are not letting people back in. martha: we'll give it a little more time and try to be patient which is so hard. thank you so much. bill: for the millions without power it could be days if not longer than that to get it back. more than 5 million homes and businesses still without electricity today, mostly in new york, new jersey, pennsylvania is on that map also, but outages are spread across 15 different states. now utility crews from as far away as southern california are making the drive east to help with repairs here. >> we have a long history, proud history of helping other utilities as they have helped us when these kinds of natural disasters happen. bill: the outages from the storm peaked at 8.5 million customers. martha: and another hospital in new york city is now being evacuated, it could take weeks before it can reopen. millions of gallons of wer is

the estimate that poured into the basement of bellevue hospital during this storm. it has been operating on back up generators but the flood damage is so bad that the hospital officials say they can't keep the build building powered for much longer. the national guard came in to help the patients out of the buildings. in some cases they were carrying people down 18 flights of stairs. >> the problem is that it's hard to bring food to the patients and get them going, to keep up with them. everything is just very slow. martha: so, so difficult. this has happened after the nearby nyulangone hospital was closed. bill: two little boys ripped from their mother feared dead. they are searching the marsh

inch by inch for the brothers. they disappeared on monday night when the mother's suv stalled out in the floodwaters, huge waves tossed them into the marsh sweeping the boys away. martha: how sad. the search and the repairs continue, we are getting some disturbing numbers on the unbelievable scope of sandy's impact financially. at least first of all of course is the lost of life which bill was talking about and the number there looks about 74 people, although that number is expected to grow and the damage estimates are soaring to $20 billion. experts say that sandy could subtract as much as one-half of a percentage point from the u.s. gross domestic product and the numbers will continue to rice and come in. boy, so much tragic stories. great heroic stories as well but it breaks your heart. bill: the governor in new york about an hour and a half ago said power should be back by friday or saturday.

i don't know if he's right but i'm hoping it is. we'll find out 48 or 72 hours from now. martha: bizarre half of the city is black and dark the other half is light. we'll see if we can get that all connected. bill: six minutes past. fox news alert governor mitt romney about to take the stage, campaign event in roanoke, virginia. a flat out tie in that state, meaning virginia's 13 electoral votes are up for grabs in five days. what can we learn from what is happening, the travel schedule, the plans over the next couple of days. good morning. >> reporter: well, mitt romney recognizes this race will be a real scramble right down to the finish line. he has three events in virginia today, a state that is a battleground from the outset of the campaign when mitt romney won the nomination, when he was assumed to be the nominee back in the primary by most of his supporters. they said virginia could be a decisive state for him. the "real clear politics" average shows romney with a lead

of half a point, a tiny, tiny little margin there for mitt romney. virginia is a state that mr. obama won four years ago and obviously it's critical for mr. romney to start picking up some of those blue states and turning them red in this cycle. and tomorrow of course we're going to be going to wisconsin and ohio, bill, ohio, the state that everybody has watched as the bell weather that will ultimately determine if not for shadow who will win and there president obama has a lead in the "real clear politics" average of 2.3 points. the romney campaign has a couple of arguments to suggest they can win ohio. that is a margin of error race as opposed to the average of the polls an and among independents romney has a significant lead in ohio and they say that could ultimately turn the tie tide. ultimately john kerry loss to george w bush. george bush was the incumbent

president with you they say ohio under reports how the candidate is doing and there is plenty of room for mitt romney's ground game to put him over-the-top in ohio and get him to the 270 needed tuesday night. bill: back in the same part of virginia where they have been for the last couple of months. the president is giving his closing argument and using colin powell to do that. what is tkpwoef governor romney's closing argument? >> the intervention of hurricane sandy interrupted his driver reas much as he wanted to. it boils on you to bold, real change. mr. obama having been reelected wasn't able to keep many of the promises that he made. many of the policies that he put forth as a candidate didn't work as president. he has been emphasizing his bayh partisanship as governor of massachusetts trying to get

swing voters in this race. we have ten battleground states that mitt romney plans to visit between now and tuesday night. he'll include in them pennsylvania and wisconsin, states that had been considered in the obama column that he now thinks he can put on his own. bill: carl cameron in virginia today. thanks. martha: virginia will b mitt romney will be in virginia day. it holds 13 electoral votes. the fight for them is a virtual tie, within the margin of error in virginia. back in 2008 then candidate barack obama beat senator john mccain with 52% of the vote in virginia. president obama's win at that time was notable was virginia had backed republicans in every presidential election from dwight eisenhower in 1952 all the way through george w. bush in 2004 except for the lyndon johnson landslide that happened

in 1964. that is your history lesson for virginia. bill: early voting is resuming in maryland, it was su suspended for two days. voters turning out in big numbers, many saying they did not want to wait until the last minute. >> it's convenient to get it done ahead of time. i can't speak for other people, but for me one less thing to do next tuesday. >> before the storm i would have said it was the storm. now i think people want to make sure they have an opportunity, you know, to get in and voice their opinion. bill: the early voting hours and days to vote extended in maryland so that may explain why we are seeing a lot of folks there voting early. martha: let's go back to a live look right now at the jersey shore. my goodness, that is the boardwalk in point pleasant where all of us who grew up in new jersey have spent summer afternoons eating pizza, going on the ride, having a lemonade, that place is absolutely devastated. but they will rebuild and you can see the cleanup is underway. bill: also there is a new

problem for storm victims, the trouble finding fuel, we are dealing with a gas shortage and what will that do to the price and even accessing gasoline for that matter. martha: a sudden snowstorm thanks to sandy caught millions off guard. >> it started off raining and snowed probably monday and turned into snow. we do tree work, that's what we do for a living so we -- that is a fridge benefit sometimes. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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bill: i want to show you a firsthand look now at the devastation own the ground. governor andrew could h cuomo touring breezy new york. this is what happened on monday night there. at least a hundred homes burned in that tiny beachfront town after a fire broke out during the storm.

martha: we have brand-new fox polls that shows a majority of americans disapprove of the way that president obama is handling the libya terror attack. 47% among likely voters say that. 39% approve of the mountain's response. president's response. 44% say they believe the the obama administration misled them and 47% say they did not. we'll bring in bret baier, he's done an extensive amount of reporting along with catherine herridge and james rosen. good to have you today. this was the second wave of polls we got in yesterday that took a look at the way the president handled the crisis. what is your response to what the numbers look like? clearly it has had some impact. >> sure, these poll numbers are not great for the white house. they are -- suggest that

benghazi -- the story has broken through. some people would look at the numbers saying that, you know, half the people don't think that the administration is misleading, you know, it's 47% say they are not misleading the public, but pollsters will tell you that that word "mislead" is a very tough word for a poll, and if 44% say that the administration may be misleading on any one topic, that that is not a good thing. also, that the story is at least -- at least registering and really not getting a lot of coverage at all, is pretty remarkable when you look at the poll numbers across the board. martha: i'm struck by how many people just want to know the latest on it when i'm out there, it's clearly on the minds of a lot of voters, they ask a lot of questions about it and i think people who have been informed

have found that that is one of the main things that gets hands going up in the air and talked about. let's take a look at one more of the polls that came out in that and i want to talk about the election and where it stands as well. here is one that says what best describes how the obama administration has treated radical muslim terrorists. 55%, bret in this survey say two soft. 26% say about right. 4 say too tough. that's got to be a number the white house won't like. >> i think that some of that comes from the coverage of how the video was treated, and how, you know, the talk about benghazi and the anti-islam video and the focus of that, and the story around that. that may have some impact on that poll number, perhaps. but it also goes to the broad construct of how this administration handles terrorism in not talking about terrorism per se and a war on terrorism, and trying to stay away from

that. ihould point out that jennifer griffin has done some great reporting on this. and david ignachus raises questioning, asking and saying that the administration has to clear up some of this and was thinking that the cia and the administration may do that by the the end of this week. we are at thursday and we are hoping to hear some detailed explanations hope hopefully by the end of this week before the election. martha: eights theee election. martha: it's a great point. thank you so much. we'll see you later on special report. bill: breaking news as promised. live to roanoke, virginia, governor mitt romney on stage about to speak at a campaign rally there. 13 electoral votes in virginia. if you're trying to read the tea leaves in the polling virginia is too close to call. what is interesting about this stof today stop today, the

central part of the state. paul ryan and mitt romney have been in that part of virginia and up and down the western part of the state as well, a lot. here is the governor now live in roanoke, let's have a listen. >> i want to thank you for your support and how much you care about this election. [cheers and applause] >> i want to thank the marvin family, what an extraordinary thing they have done in building this here. [cheers and applause] >> i'm glad there are no keys in the truck behind me. [laughter] >> but nonetheless i see these trucks going across america and when the housing market was in distress for them to be able to maintain their business and employee base is an extraordinary thing -rs and their involvement in this election and recognizing the importance of this election in setting a course for the coming decades is very touching. it was powerful to listen to jake and to speak with his sister susan, the two of them

are leaders, top two people in their company, they are making products for america and they and their family and all the people who work at marvin, they did build this. [cheers and applause] and i want to thank this guy, he wants to downgrade his title from governor to senator, but i'm nonetheless ready to make sure we do that, i need to make sure that you will elect this man as the next united states senator from virginia, i need him, we've got to have him. [cheers and applause] thanks also to congressman goodlatt we appreciate his leadership and support here. he tells me you're knocking own doors and making calls for him and me, that makes a real difference and i appreciate it. how many of you have voted already or knocked on a door or made a call. wow, that is great. thank you. thanks, guys. keeping on battling.

[cheers and applause] >> this is a critical place for us. turn out here makes an enormous difference and this election makes a big difference and you understand that. this election will have enormous consequence. i also want to thank ricky staggs for entertaining you before we got here. [cheers and applause] >> he's done quite a job. he's been traveling with us around the country and helping us at events, it's just marvelous to have folks in the entertainment community who are out there singing and performing to make sure people are coming and listening to our message. just a note also about the tragedies of the last several days, as you know the extraordinary storm that hit a great part of the atlantic coast did not hit as hard here as it might have, but across other parts of the country it hit very hard, a lot of people lost their lives, a lot of families have been devastated, a lot of homes have been lost and property lost and our hearts go out to the people who are suffering. please make sure if you have an

extra dollar or more than that to send it along to the red cross or salvation army or some other relief effort to make sure that we show the world and show our neighbors how much we care. we love those in need. [cheers and applause] >> there are other things that you can do this morning besides come listen to a couple of political folks, and you're here, i believe, because you recognize that this is an election of consequence, that the choice that gets made on november 6th will not just set the course for four years, but in fact will have an impact on america for many years to come, for a generation at least. this is a very critical time to decide what america is going to be, what kind of life you're going to live in your homes and families. i happen to believe that the choice you make will have enormous consequence if he. for a senior who is perhaps needing the care of a specialist, if he or she makes a call to the doctor and if

obamacare is installed and the president is reelected, why when making that call you most likely will have theee sepgsist com have the receptionist come back and say we are not taking any more medicare patients. people in your 40s and 50s, these are supposed to be your high earning years. does it feel like that now? a lot of people are having a hard time making ends meet. the median income has dropped, now you're earning $4,300 a year less than you were four years ago. and gasoline prices they've gone up $2,000 per family. and then health insurance costs they've gone up 2,500 dollars a family. middle income people in america have really been squeezed. people recognize this is an election ta will make a real difference. the president's proposal in a setting like this is to continue

on the same road he has a campaign slogan which is forward. i saw the signs out front, forward. i think fore warned is a better word. [cheers and applause] >> i mean do you want four more years like the last four years? do you want four more years where 23 million americans are struggling to have a good job? [no! ] >> do you want four more years when earnings are going down every year. [no!] >> do you want four nor years of trillion dollar deficits in washington? how about four more years of gridlock in washington? there is no question in my view we really can't have four more years like the last four years. i know that the obama folks are chanting four more years, four more years. our chant is this. five more days, five more days.

[cheers and applause] [chanting] five more days! five more days! five more days! >> we are going to have to come up with a better slogan tomorrow, or a different won at least. [laughter] >> i know the president has been trying to figure out some way to suggest he's got some new ideas, because with all these people out of work, with 3 million more women in poverty today than when he took office. when 15 trillion more people on food stamps than when he took office he's got to find something to suggest it will be better over the next four years. he came up with an idea last week, which is he's going to create the department of business. [laughter] >> i don't think adding a new chair in his cabinet will help

add millions of jobs on main street. [cheers and applause] >> i mean unfortunately what you've seen before your very eyes is a campaign that keeps on shrinking and shrinking and shrinking to smaller things. he's been out talking about how he's going to save big bird and then playing silly word games with my last name, or first. and then attack me day in and day out, attacking me doesn't make an agenda, doesn't get people back to work. [cheers and applause] >> we don't need the secretary of business to understand business, we need a president who understands the business, and i do, and that's why i'll be able to get to economy going. [cheers and applause] >> this isn't a time for small measures. this is a time for greatness, this is a time for big change,

for real change, and that's why just as your next senator said, this is a time where from day one he's going to make changes, i'm going to make real changes, i'm going to get this economy going from day one we're making changes. let me tell you some of the things we're going to do. we've got 5 critical things i want to do to get this economy going, and the governor mentioned one of them and that is energy. i want to take full advantage of our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear, our renewables. [cheers and applause] >> and i know that you know that when we have more plentiful energy and we can have north american energy independence within 8 years what that means of course is lower prices at the pump and lower cost for fuel at your home. it also means jobs, and that's the reason i mentioned it because it's not only jobs in the energy sector, coal and gas, and oil, but it's also jobs in manufacturing, like right here,

because there is a lot of energy used in the lumber products arena in making fiberglass and assembling these products and manufacturing them. when energy costs are lower then we're able to create more manufacturing jobs, that's why it's so critical. we have this ace in the hole, in energy and the president has been stalling on this for the last four years. i won't stall. we are going to unleash the power of our energy resources and get america working again. [cheers and applause] number two, number two, we are going to open more trade, trade works for us. we are a very productive people. we make more stuff per person in america than almost any other nation on earth, more than any of the other large nations, and because of our productivity opening up new markets for us to sell goods to creates jobs and higher income. i want to open up more markets particularly in latin america where we have natural language advantages, time zone

advantages, latin america's economy is almost as big as chinas. i want to open up more trade. by the way this nations cheat and china has not played by the rules they'll have to be held accountable, we can't let them steal job jobs through unfair trade practices. [cheers and applause] >> number three is good training for people who need training. by the way we also need to have great schools for the coming generation. look, our schools have fallen off from the very top and now they are in the bottom third or bottom quarter, it's unacceptable, it's time for us to make sure we put our kids and their parents and the teachers first, and the teachers union is going to have to go behind. [cheers and applause] >> number four, number four, we've really got to do something to create jobs that may not be immediately connected in people's minds with jobs and that relates to the federal budget and the deficit. you see, if you're an prupb

person starting a business like the marvin family did in the early 1800s, or a company that is expanding you have to have yourself is america on the road to gross or spain or other parts of the world. if we spend a trillion dollars more than we take in america will be in that circumstance down the road. we have to make sure that people who would think about investing here are inclined to do so because we are able to deal with our great challenges fiscally. that means i'm going to do something that has been spoken about for years but hasn't been done. i'm going to cut federal spending and cap it and finally get us on track to a balanced budget. [cheers and applause] >> and number five, and number five, we have to champion small business. we have to help small businesses grow and drive thrive. we have to make sure the regulators understand their job

is not just to catch bad guys but also to encourage the good guys. we need regulation but they need to be up to date and regulators have to see businesses like this as their friends and encourage them and support them, and by the way, we can't tax them to death. i was with a business person in st. louis, four employees in the electronics business. he said that he and his son calculated how much money they send to the government every year out of their business and he put down how much for the federal income tax and the federal payroll tax and the state income tax and real estate tax and gasoline tax. and it was over half of what they made. and he said, think about this. you start a business, your chance of success is not even as good as 50-50. most small businesses won't make it so it's a risky thing to do. then if you're successful the government wants more than half of what you make and so a lot of people decide not to build businesses. today we are at the lowest level of new business start ups in 30

years. i want to change this dynamic and make business recognize they have a friend in washington, not a foe. and i believe if we do that, we do those five things and get those five done we are going to create 12 million new jobs and more take home pay. [cheers and applause]

>> for george allen as well. when you go through that you answer these questions and say look, if the president is reelected we'll have $20 trillion in debt in four years and america will be closer to the economic crisis that you're seeing in europe. if i'm elected we will get america finally on track to a balanced budget. the president is reelected you'll cut medicare by $716 billion to pay for obamacare. if i'm reelected -- excuse me if i'm elected.

[laughter] >> i guess -- [cheers and applause] >> we are going to restore that money to medicare and repeal and replace obamacare so your premiums don't go up by 2,500 dollars a year. [cheers and applause] >> i know what the president means by all of the above, he means all the energy that comes from above the ground, all right. wind and solar. i like wind and solar too but i also like the energy that comes from below the ground, oil, coal and gas and we'll get it in my administration.

i can also tell you this. if the president were to be reelected you're going to see high levels of unemployment continue, and stalled wage growth, if any wage growth at all just like we've seen over the last four years. we know something about the past, we've seen what his policies have produced. the only way to get this economy going is the bold change that i've described, real change from day one with the five steps that will get this economy going, create jobs, rising take home pay, we'll have a very different future when i get elected with your help. [cheers and applause] >> i want you to know i'm confident that the future. i'm optimistic. i think our future is going to be brighter than the past. i know we've had a glorious past as a nation, i know we are going through tough times right now. sometimes we tend to think that what we are in is going to always be the way it will be.

you know what it's going to chain. we need real change, for real change we'll have to take a different course and i think that's what americans will do on november 6th. i believe that one of the things that will drive this country forward is the character and heart of the american people. that's where my confidence comes from. we are a patriotic hard-working innovative creative, risk taking, business starting, education seeking people. it's who we are. and i have throughout my life --

>> i was at a table a formica table at the end of the gymnasium at the end of the table next to the american flag and the person speak being at the microphone was the scout master from monument, colorado. and he said their scout troop wanted a special flag, so they bought an american flag, gold tassels around it. they sent it off to be tkpwhroepb above the capitol. they say we wonder if we can have it go up in the space shuttle. they cone tacted nasa. nasa agreed. he said you can't imagine the pride of our boys watch from their classrooms, seeing the space shuttle challenger launch on the tv screen. then they saw it explode on the tv. and he said he called nasa a couple of weeks later and said, have you found any remnant of our flag? and they hadn't. he said he called every week, month after month, still nothing. and then he was reading an article in the paper about some of the debris from the challenger disaster and it

mentioned a flag and he called nasa, and he said in fact we have a presentation to make to your boys. nasa came out and presented them with a plastic container and they said they opened it up and there was our flag in perfect condition. [applause] r- >> and he said that's in the flagpole next to mr. romney here at the end of the table. i reached over and grabbed the flag and pulled it out and it was as if electricity was running through my arm because i thought of the people in our space program who have taken risks, put themselves in harm's way for learning, for pioneering, for knowledge, for us, for their fellow citizens. think of the men and women in our military as the governor indicated who serve our nation and put themselves in harm's way.

[cheers and applause] there is averse in one of our national hyms i enjoy most. the hymn is america the beautiful. the verse says oh beautiful for heros proof for liberating strive who more than selftheir country live and mercy more than life. thanks to our veterans and all those who serve. thank you also -- thank you also to people of america's national character that serve in other ways, that serve in ways to exemplify something about our american spirit, and that is if we live for things bigger than ourselves. it seems to be part of our natural character. we are not entirely focused on us, we are focused on things

around us, our families, churches, si synagogues. it's part of what america is. i've seen it in so many ways. my sister is a hero to me. they say that to be a hero you don't have to be larger than life, just larger than yourself. my sister has eight children, she is now in her 70s, her husband passed away a few years ago. her seven oldest children are all married with kids of their own, her 8th child is down syndromeed. jeffery is 43. i've watched lynn throughout the 43 years do everything in her power to give him a fulfilled and abundant life. she is a hero because she gives of herself to someone else she loves. [cheers and applause] >> i think of all the single moms, the single moms across america. yeah. who are in many cases

struggling, scraping by a bit to make sure they have much money to put a good meal on the table at the end of the day for their kids. i think of all the dads and moms working two jobs right now to make sure that their kids will be able to have the kind of clothes the other kids at school have so they won't stand out. think of all the parents this christmas who after all these tough years, four very difficult years are saying we can't exchange gifts with one another, we are instead going to make sure we can give enough to our kids for a great christmas for them. it's part of who we are at as a people. we have very full hearts. there was a tv show some years ago you may have seen with a fictional football team. and when the football team would leave the locker room to go out in the field they would touch a sign in the hallway. it says clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. this november i know you people in this room have very clear eyes, you know the consequence of what this election means.

you have full hearts, and we can't lose, we need you, virginia, we've got to take back america. i'm counting on you. george is counting on you. let's make sure we keep america the hope of the earth. thank you so very much. [cheers and applause] bill: roanoke, virginia, southwestern part of that state not four more years but five more days says governor romney, a strong economic appeal especially on energy policy in coal-rich virginia. his closing argument is this. be bold america, this is not a time for small change. virginia went for president obama four years ago the first time that state went democratic since 1964. 13 electoral votes in virginia, hotly contested. polls are dead even and the final sprint is now on. martha: boy, that is one side of what is going on in america right now and then you have this. this incredible scene in brooklyn, new york, this morning, we've been showing you

hundreds of people packed in lines around the block. they are trying to get onto a bus so that they can show up for work today. we'll be right back with more. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8.

>> i know the president has been trying to figure out some way to suggest he's got some new ideas, because with all these people out of work, with 3 million more women eupl povert in poverty today than when he took office. with 15 million more people on food stamps than when he took office he's got to find something to suggest it's going to be better over the next four years. he came up with an idea last week which is he's going to create the department of business. [laughter] >> i don't think adding a new chair in his cabinet will help add millions of jobs on main street. [cheers and applause] martha: that was moments ago. mitt romney on the campaign trial in roanoke, virginia. joined now by ben labolt the national press secretary to the obama campaign. ben, welcome, good to have you here. >> good morning, martha, thank you. >> what do you make of

mr. romney's argument that the last thing we need is yet another cabinet post. >> this is an idea that republicans should rush to embrace when it was propose owned january 13th. it's a proposal for smaller, more efficient government. there are a half dozen departments that handle exports, a half dozen departments that handle small business. the president wants to streamline government and put them into a one-stop shop to better serve business. but ultimately governor romney has a different philosophy. the president has cut taxes to preserve job creation. mitt romney will raise taxes on small business. martha: the idea is perhaps the governor suggests that that is the president's job to sort of be the person who oversees the economy and guides it with leadership and the last thing we need is yet another post. we already have an endless number of agencies that handle some of these things, and as he and others have suggested maybe it's time to cut through some of that red tape rather than create

more of it. >> well that is exactly what the president's point is is to collapse some of those departments into a one-stop shop to shrink the size of government. let's take a look at mitt romney's economic record and his proposals. he promised when he came into government in massachusetts that he'd pick up the pace of job creation but he didn't. massachusetts slipped from 36 out of 50 in job creation to 47. manufacturing jobs declined by twice the national average. he raised taxes on small businesses. he raised taxes across the board by $750 million. it had a big impact on small business skwraoeu don'. martha: i don't want to get into it. we've heard the arlg aouplts on both sides. we're looking at where the president is spending his time. ohio, wisconsin, wisconsin colorado. we are within the margin of error in all of these states. what is the mood of the campaign right now. >> i think it's very good. the one thing that isn't

intangible is the early numbers. in states like iowa where voters have been voting for weeks we are winning 2-1. the romney campaign says they have a innocenc inch -- we've mid a lot of progress over the past four years. were losing 800,000 jobs a month when he came into office, manufacturing was in decline, we were in the midst of a foreclosure process. martha: the closing argument as you heard from mitt romney, his closing argument is that we haven't got even any change an wants to create a big change that is his closing argument as he goes out there. he says four years is enough we haven't seen the results and it's time to move on. >> a return to the failed economic policies of the past is not real change. he's proposed more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires we've tried that it didn't unleash job creation. we stripped back oversight from polluters on wall street it was

a financial house of cards that collapesed in 2008. we've been building the economy from the middle class out. it's time tow restore the economy for the middle class. martha: coming up on a hard break, thanks for joining us. just a few more days to go. see you soon, ben. bill: when we come back there is gridlock in and out o of gotham. the gridlock in and out of brooklyn.

bill: here now a new storm-related crisis for victims in the northeast, a gas shortage. gas is scarce, many stations are closed and there is no power to run the pumps, and the ones that are open have lines stretching for miles. the president of penn financial group joins us. good morning to you. there is a gas shortage already in the northeast. >> there is a major gas shortage. the one bright spot here we have, bill there are nine major refineries in the northeast only

two are shut down, that should bring us help. the ports are closed we are not able to get the gasoline that is refined away from this region into the region right now, and in new jersey has power off in a lot of the stations even if they have gasoline they can't pump it due to lack of power. bill: two refineries shut down by the storm, right. >> yes. bill: what does this do to the price of gasoline in the near term or for folks not just here but across the country. >> it should bring the prices down believe it or not. we are seeing those two refineries took off 200 or 300 gallons of gasoline a day. in the northeast there are a lot of people staying home because they can't get to the gas stations, they don't want to wait in line, there is no gas for them. that may take off consumption down by one to two million gallons a day. you're having less consumed. bill: you're arguing as demand drops the price stays down.

>> we are at the time of year where demand is dropping already. you have that scared spike out there where you may see some people gouge you and push the prices up. be careful of that as well. bill: in the midwest this past week here is what i noticed being back in ohio and pennsylvania. the price was high, 3.70 a gallon, dropped down to 3.10 then went quickly back up. what is the seesaw there. >> you're seeing the owners of the shops trying to play it, you know, how much demand they have, they are also trying to look ahead and say okay if the storm hits i better jump it back up because my supply is going to fall again. you'll see it from day-to-day, longer term between now and the end of the year we should see prices drop. >> thank you, matt mccall in new york. we have news that the first plane landing in laguardia in several days, before the storm happened. there is a look at laguardia, they want to get those planes moving in and out.

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